One such dispute, which can trace its roots back to the summer of 2013, has finally reached a conclusion, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has finally closed its investigation as to whether Samsung can use standards-essential patents to block Apple products.

When a Google recruiter emailed an Apple employee in 2007 about a possible opening, the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs discovered the email and quickly forwarded it to his counterpart at Google, CEO Eric Schmidt.